women,” Margo said.
When he passed the two huge, overflowing buckets across the counter, I asked him, “Don’t you have anything bigger than this?”
Margo cracked up. I liked her completely. I felt myself begin to relax. We paid for our troughs of popcorn and turned around. “Uh-oh,” Margo said.
“What?”
She pointed with her chin. “Emelina Lee.” I looked across toward the front door. There she was, Carson’s famous ex-girlfriend, in all her glory, crossing the red-carpeted lobby hand in hand with a gorgeous, slightly older-looking guy, who was sophisticatedly wearing a gray flannel scarf and a coat instead of a ski jacket. Emelina’s long black hair was back in a French braid, which just made her high cheekbones look that much more stunning. People stopped their conversations as she passed. She was wearing a black turtleneck, black pants, black high-heeled boots, and a red leather jacket.
Margo sighed.
“She sure has good posture,” I pointed out.
Turning to smile at me, Margo said, “Yes. Perfect.”
“Matches the rest of her,” I added.
“Meow,” Margo whispered.
My mouth dropped open to protest, but what could I say? She was right, I needed a saucer of milk to go with my attitude.
Margo smiled at Emelina, who had stopped right in front of us. “Hi, Emelina.”
“Hi, Margo,” Emelina said. “How are you?”
“Great,” Margo said. “You playing first singles again?”
“Yeah,” Emelina said. “Getting psyched. We should be good this year. This is Daniel. He’s in for the weekend.”
“Hi, Daniel,” Margo said.
“Margo is on the tennis team with me,” Emelina explained to Daniel. “She’s a junior.”
“Ah,” said Daniel. “Tough year.”
Margo smiled and nodded.
Carson and Frankie had made their way over and Emelina introduced Daniel to them. He and Carson gripped each other’s hands super hard, like they were trying to see who could crush whose bones.
To break the tension, and maybe also to remind myself that I hadn’t gone home yet, despite nobody’s seeming to have noticed, I said, “I’m Josie.”
They all turned to look at me, considering this news. Emelina held out her hand and said, “Hi, Josie.”
I took her hand and squished hard, jumping to the offensive since I figured if she was a star tennis player she could take me on pure strength. She gave me a small pulse of a squeeze and let go. When it took me a second to realize we were done with that, she raised one arched eyebrow at me.
“You look familiar,” Emelina said, retrieving her hand. “You don’t go to school with us, do you?”
“Yup,” I said. “Sure do. But I don’t play tennis. I wanted to, but then I heard a rumor that there’s some running around and sweating involved, so . . .”
Emelina smiled slightly, acknowledging her understanding that I was kidding around, although in fact I wasn’t. I spread my feet a little farther apart, imitating Carson’s squared-off stance. If Emelina and Daniel challenged us to a fistfight, all I can say is it’s a good thing Carson is strong. But I didn’t want to let down our side ahead of time by hiding behind Carson. Well, I did, actually, but I resisted. A few popcorns tumbled out of my vat, onto the floor. Emelina and Dan I guess didn’t want any popcorn.
“Hmm,” Emelina said, looking down at the mess I had made. “Anyway, we should get seats . . .”
Everybody nodded at that, but nobody budged.
“This is fun, huh?” I said. I shoved a handful of popcorn into my mouth and started to chew, loudly.
Carson, evidently remembering who his date was, took two steps toward me, and slung his arm protectively across my shoulders. Emelina’s face changed only slightly, briefly, and then she smiled at Carson.
“Hey,” Carson said. “You guys want to come over tomorrow for the Eagles game?”
Emelina glanced up at Daniel. “Carson is famous for his Eagles parties.”
“You want to go?” Daniel asked her.
Emelina waited a
When he passed the two huge, overflowing buckets across the counter, I asked him, “Don’t you have anything bigger than this?”
Margo cracked up. I liked her completely. I felt myself begin to relax. We paid for our troughs of popcorn and turned around. “Uh-oh,” Margo said.
“What?”
She pointed with her chin. “Emelina Lee.” I looked across toward the front door. There she was, Carson’s famous ex-girlfriend, in all her glory, crossing the red-carpeted lobby hand in hand with a gorgeous, slightly older-looking guy, who was sophisticatedly wearing a gray flannel scarf and a coat instead of a ski jacket. Emelina’s long black hair was back in a French braid, which just made her high cheekbones look that much more stunning. People stopped their conversations as she passed. She was wearing a black turtleneck, black pants, black high-heeled boots, and a red leather jacket.
Margo sighed.
“She sure has good posture,” I pointed out.
Turning to smile at me, Margo said, “Yes. Perfect.”
“Matches the rest of her,” I added.
“Meow,” Margo whispered.
My mouth dropped open to protest, but what could I say? She was right, I needed a saucer of milk to go with my attitude.
Margo smiled at Emelina, who had stopped right in front of us. “Hi, Emelina.”
“Hi, Margo,” Emelina said. “How are you?”
“Great,” Margo said. “You playing first singles again?”
“Yeah,” Emelina said. “Getting psyched. We should be good this year. This is Daniel. He’s in for the weekend.”
“Hi, Daniel,” Margo said.
“Margo is on the tennis team with me,” Emelina explained to Daniel. “She’s a junior.”
“Ah,” said Daniel. “Tough year.”
Margo smiled and nodded.
Carson and Frankie had made their way over and Emelina introduced Daniel to them. He and Carson gripped each other’s hands super hard, like they were trying to see who could crush whose bones.
To break the tension, and maybe also to remind myself that I hadn’t gone home yet, despite nobody’s seeming to have noticed, I said, “I’m Josie.”
They all turned to look at me, considering this news. Emelina held out her hand and said, “Hi, Josie.”
I took her hand and squished hard, jumping to the offensive since I figured if she was a star tennis player she could take me on pure strength. She gave me a small pulse of a squeeze and let go. When it took me a second to realize we were done with that, she raised one arched eyebrow at me.
“You look familiar,” Emelina said, retrieving her hand. “You don’t go to school with us, do you?”
“Yup,” I said. “Sure do. But I don’t play tennis. I wanted to, but then I heard a rumor that there’s some running around and sweating involved, so . . .”
Emelina smiled slightly, acknowledging her understanding that I was kidding around, although in fact I wasn’t. I spread my feet a little farther apart, imitating Carson’s squared-off stance. If Emelina and Daniel challenged us to a fistfight, all I can say is it’s a good thing Carson is strong. But I didn’t want to let down our side ahead of time by hiding behind Carson. Well, I did, actually, but I resisted. A few popcorns tumbled out of my vat, onto the floor. Emelina and Dan I guess didn’t want any popcorn.
“Hmm,” Emelina said, looking down at the mess I had made. “Anyway, we should get seats . . .”
Everybody nodded at that, but nobody budged.
“This is fun, huh?” I said. I shoved a handful of popcorn into my mouth and started to chew, loudly.
Carson, evidently remembering who his date was, took two steps toward me, and slung his arm protectively across my shoulders. Emelina’s face changed only slightly, briefly, and then she smiled at Carson.
“Hey,” Carson said. “You guys want to come over tomorrow for the Eagles game?”
Emelina glanced up at Daniel. “Carson is famous for his Eagles parties.”
“You want to go?” Daniel asked her.
Emelina waited a
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